Augustine Volcano erupted Friday for the third time in a week, sending an ash plume toward communities on the southwest Kenai Peninsula. Tom Murray, scientist in charge at the Alaska Volcano Observatory, said the mountain on an isolated and uninhabited island about 180 miles south of Anchorage erupted for 45 minutes, starting shortly before 4 a.m. ... http://www.usatoday.com

China cautioned today against taking the issue of Iran's nuclear program to the United Nations Security Council, saying that doing so might lead the Iranian government to end all cooperation with the UN's nuclear watchdog agency. ``Referring it to the Security Council might complicate the issue,'' Wang Guangya, China's ambassador to the UN told reporters in New York. ``That might make some of the parties more tough on this issue. That is our concern.'' Guyangya wouldn't say whether China would vote against referral to the Security Council when that question comes before the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna....http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=a.Li9x_nrF0c&refer=home

DNA tests have confirmed the guilt of a man who was executed in the US in 1992 whilst proclaiming his innocence. Virginia state's outgoing governor, Mark Warner, had ordered the tests on Roger Coleman, who was put to death for raping and murdering his sister-in-law. Anti-death penalty advocates had hoped this would be the first case of DNA testing exonerating an executed man. The test results are a blow to those who supported Coleman and to the anti-death penalty movement in general. A forensic laboratory in Toronto concluded there was virtually no doubt that the DNA recovered from the body of the victim, Wanda McCoy, belonged to Coleman. The tests had been ordered by Governor Warner, considered by many a possible candidate for the 2008 presidential race. It was the first time that a US governor had requested genetic testing in the case of an executed prisoner. Although a supporter of the death penalty, Governor Warner has used his last few weeks in office to grant clemency to ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4608196.stm

$150: that's how much Russellville police say it costs to buy a fake identification card, until now.A man and woman were arrested Wednesday and charged with forgery and possession of a forgery device. "We did an undercover operation and during that time we actually purchased some ID's and at that time, we called in the federal authorities," says Russellville Police Chief Chris Hargett. The chief said that the investigation began in October and centered around the Town and Country Mobile Home Park on Highway 24. ...http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=4356867

An investigation by the Russian general prosecutor's office into violations of the law in state orphanages has found some institutions allocate as little as 30 kopecks (0.6p) a day for each child's care.The report reveals catastrophic conditions in thousands of children's homes across the country, many of them crumbling buildings where children go barefoot or without adequate clothing.Critics yesterday blamed the scandal on President Vladimir Putin's decision in 2004 to transfer responsibility for funding of most social services to Russia's 87 regions, many of which are cash-starved. Announcing the report's conclusions, deputy-general prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky said it had "established that in many regions of Russia the guarantee of social support to orphans is being violated; that is, not fulfilled"....http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,2763,1685562,00.html

A senior British officer has criticised the US army for its conduct in Iraq, accusing it of institutional racism, moral righteousness, misplaced optimism, and of being ill-suited to engage in counter-insurgency operations.The blistering critique, by Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster, who was the second most senior officer responsible for training Iraqi security forces, reflects criticism and frustration voiced by British commanders of American military tactics.What is startling is the severity of his comments - and the decision by Military Review, a US army magazine, to publish them.American soldiers, says Brig Aylwin-Foster, were "almost unfailingly courteous and considerate". But he says "at times their cultural insensitivity, almost certainly inadvertent, arguably amounted to institutional racism"....http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1684561,00.html